Endocrinol Metab.  2018 Jun;33(2):273-277. 10.3803/EnM.2018.33.2.273.

Association between Serum Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Levels and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women

• Choi HS
• Lee HA
• Kim SW
• Cho EH

• KMID: 2420497
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3803/EnM.2018.33.2.273

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Despite the beneficial effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on metabolic disease, there are concerns about adverse effects on bone metabolism, supported by animal studies. However, a recent human study showed the positive association between serum FGF21 level and bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy premenopausal women. We undertook this study to examine the association between FGF21 level and BMD in healthy postmenopausal Korean women who are susceptible to osteoporosis.
METHODS
We used data of 115 participants from a cohort of healthy postmenopausal women (>50 years old) to examine the association between serum FGF21 level and BMD. The clinical characteristics were obtained from the participants, and blood testing and serum FGF21 testing were undertaken. BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip area, and bone markers were used in the analyses.
RESULTS
The mean age of the participants was 60.2±7.2 years. Serum FGF21 levels showed negative correlation with BMD and T-scores in all three areas, but there were no statistically significant differences. Multivariate analyses with adjustment for age and body mass index also did not show significant association between serum FGF21 level and BMD. In addition, serum FGF21 level also showed no correlation with osteocalcin and C-telopeptide levels.
CONCLUSION
In our study, serum FGF21 level showed no significant correlation with BMD and T-scores.

Keyword

Fibroblast growth factor 21; Postmenopausal women; Bone density; Osteoporosis

MeSH Terms

Animals
Body Mass Index
Bone Density*
Cohort Studies
Female
Femur Neck
Fibroblast Growth Factors*
Fibroblasts*
Hematologic Tests
Hip
Humans
Metabolic Diseases
Metabolism
Multivariate Analysis
Osteocalcin
Osteoporosis
Spine
Fibroblast Growth Factors
Osteocalcin

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Correlation analysis between serum fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) levels and osteocalcin (A) and C-telopeptide (B).

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